The invention relates generally to welding systems and, more particularly, to data acquisition using a purge plug in a welding system.
Welding is a process that has increasingly become utilized in various industries and applications. Such processes may be automated in certain contexts, although a large number of applications continue to exist for manual welding operations. In both cases, such welding operations rely on a variety of types of equipment to ensure the supply of welding consumables (e.g., wire feed, shielding gas, etc.) is provided to the weld in appropriate amounts at the desired time.
Welding operations are performed on a variety of different materials. For example, a workpiece may be formed from a carbon steel or a corrosion resistant alloy, such as stainless steel. Certain workpieces may be sensitive to heat, such as heat produced during a welding operation. Accordingly, a quality of a weld on a workpiece may depend on temperatures that the workpiece is exposed to during the welding operation. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to detect the temperature of a workpiece near a joint while a welding operation is occurring on the joint. Thus, it may be difficult to determine temperatures that a workpiece is exposed to during the welding operation.